XXX
by Coley213
Summary: Terrible things happen to people who meddle with Time Travel, Harry. Terrible things." --- Hermione Granger should've listened to her own advice that she'd given Harry all those years ago. If she'd listened, she wouldn't have fallen in love with Draco.
1. Chapter 1

"Terrible things happen to those who meddle with time travel, Harry. Terrible things."

*~!~*

Hermione Granger should have listened to her own advice to Harry all those years ago. If she had listened to herself, her marriage to Ronald would not be falling apart, and she would still love him. If she had listened to herself, she may not have fallen in love with Draco Malfoy. If she had listened to herself, and not gone back in time, she wouldn't have fallen in love with her sworn enemy, and she would not be in a horrid predicament.

**A/N: I just want to let everyone know ahead of time: Everything that happened in books 1 through 7 happened here. I'm just continuing where the epilogue left off, with a twist from what J.K. Rowling would have written.**

Chapter 1

"Ronald, darling, please come to the fireplace so we can go to dinner. I know you miss Rose, but we mustn't tarry. We have to be over at Harry and Ginny's in just under five minutes. We really have no time to waste." Hermione pleaded.

Ron looked up at her from his work, and sighed. He was missing his daughter terribly, and they had just sent her off to Hogwarts that morning! However, he still had his boy, Hugo. Hugo was a mummy's boy, though. Ron and Hugo weren't as close as Ron and Rose, but he loved his son to the ends of the Earth. He looked over at his wife, and saw her waiting impatiently, with the Floo powder jar in her hand. He got up from his desk and walked over to the mantle with her. He grinned as he saw Hugo, all bundled up in winter clothing.

"Hermione, we're going by Floo. Why is Hugo all bundled up like it's below zero outside?"

"Ronald, he might want to play with Lily! If he goes without a heavy winter jacket, he might catch a cold." Hermione reasoned.

"I suppose you're right, like always!" Ron conceded. His wife did have a point. It was pretty cold out. He motioned for his wife to step into the fireplace. She grabbed on to Hugo, and they spun away in a flash of green. Ron stepped into the fireplace after they were gone, and threw in the Floo powder, shouting Harry's address.

"Ron! Nice to see you, mate!" Harry clapped him on the shoulder.

"You'd think that they didn't just see each other at eleven this morning," Ginny mumbled to a Hermione, who gave her a grin.

"Boys, it's dinner time. Wash you hands," Hermione commanded, grabbing a hand towel to emphasize her point.

"Yes, mum!" The two men answered cheekily.

"Cheeky buggers," Hermione mumbled under her breath as she whipped the towel at them.

"Mum, what is a 'cheeky bugger'?" Hugo questioned.

Hermione looked up in horror as she realized that her son had heard her less-than-ladylike comment. Her eyes met Ginny's, and they both pealed over in laughter. Harry and Ron walked in again, fresh from the wash room, and looked at their wives laughing.

"Those two are mental, I tell you," Ron chuckled.

"Daddy, what is a 'cheeky bugger'?" Hugo repeated his question to his father.

Harry gave Ron a Look, but Ron just shrugged his shoulders. "It wasn't me, mate. Hermione would have my hide for breakfast if I said anything like that." To Hugo, he said, "Son, that not a nice word to say. I don't want you to repeat it ever again, understand?"

"Yes, Daddy," Hugo replied solemnly, "but why would Mum say a word that isn't nice?"

Ron and Harry looked at each other, surprised. "Did your mum say that phrase?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Uncle Harry." Hugo responded.

Harry gave Ron a look out of the corner of his eye, and they both walked over to Hermione. Ron nodded at Harry, and they picked her up and threw her onto the couch.

"You bloody hypocrite!" They guffawed, poking Hermione in the stomach, tickling her.

"Stop it, stop it boys! Stop acting like children!" She screamed through her laughter.

Outside, there was a figure watching the actions of the six people inside the house. The person climbed onto the roof, and slipped down the chimney. While the two men were practically assaulting the brown haired woman inside, and the red head stood by, just laughing, two children were standing by the fireplace. The children were straightening their homemade decorations that had been hung on the mantel. The stranger slipped into the house, and snatched the children without a sound, moving faster than anyone else could have imagined. Hugo and Lily didn't even have a chance to make a noise. However, the mantelpiece smashed to the ground., making the four friends look up in surprise.

"Where did the children get off to?" Ginny wondered, surprised that the children had left half of the decorations that they had been making on the floor.

"Kids!" Hermione called, "It's dinner time! Please come down to eat." She turned to Ron and Harry. "Ronald, can you please go outside and make sure that they aren't playing. Hugo doesn't have his jacket on and it's time for dinner. And Harry, can you check upstairs. They might be playing up there. I'll help Ginny with setting the table and getting the food out."

Around two minutes later, Harry walked down the stairs and reported to his wife and best friend that they weren't playing upstairs. Five minutes after Hermione sent him on his way, Ron ran into the house, huffing and puffing.

"They're not outside, Hermione. I ran went through the entire property, every bush and tree, and I yelled myself hoarse." Truth be told, he did sound a bit hoarse.

Ginny sat down at the dining room table, looking extremely worried. Harry dutifully stood behind her, rubbing her back. Inside, Hermione was going crazy, but she had to be strong and levelheaded for her friends. She had to take up her old role of being the brains of the trio.

"They've got to be around somewhere," Hermione reasoned. It didn't comfort the other three. Ron stood statue-still, clearly panicking on the inside.

Just then, someone flooed in, causing all four adults to jump up, wands in hand, in the fighting position that they hadn't stood in for over nineteen years.

"Please lower your wands," Professor McGonagall requested.

The four adults exhaled simultaneously. Hermione stepped forward, solemnly, to speak, but her beloved Professor held up a hand, and spoke first.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Weasley, but I have grave news. You must come with me at once. Floo to the Hogwarts Headmistress's Office." She stepped back into the fireplace, yelling "Hogwarts Headmistress's Office!" as she went. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Harry followed suit immediately, no question asked.

Once in the office, the Weasleys and Potters saw Draco and Astoria Malfoy sitting there, looking very confused.

"Potter," Draco nodded.

"Malfoy," Harry replied amicably.

"Professor, please, why are we here?" Hermione asked the Headmistress, nearly hysterical.

"I'm afraid I have very grave news to tell you," Minerva McGonagall stated, her mouth set in a grim, straight line. "Your children are gone."

"What?!" Ron and Ginny exploded, nearly hitting the roof. Hermione fainted, and Harry snapped out of his daze quickly enough to catch her. Draco and Astoria sat where they were, frozen like statues made of stone.

Hermione came to quickly, and cleared her head. "Lily and Hugo are not at Harry and Ginny's house. Who else is missing?" She squeaked out.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. Her mouth was still set in a straight line, but her eyes betrayed her cold demeanor. "Albus, Rose, James, and Scorpius." She delivered gravely.

"My son is missing?" Draco breathed. Hermione glanced over at him, surprised that he had shown emotion. His wife still had a cold demeanor, but she suspected that it was to appear strong to those present in the room, which gave Hermione courage to speak.

"Out children are missing. All of them but Teddy. Why would our younger ones be taken, and not Teddy?" Hermione questioned fervently.

"We have two suspicions," McGonagall started, "One of them being that he is not of true Potter blood-"

"That's bloody ridiculous!" Harry exploded, losing his cool for the first time that night. "Teddy Lupin is every bit as much a Potter as every other child in my family!"

"Mister Potter, calm down. I only meant that your blood does not run through his veins. I did not mean to insinuate that he is not an important part of your family. It was not an insult. My next suggestion is that he is too old to take. He could fight anyone off, spare Voldemort himself."

"I'm assuming that it's the latter," Hermione stated.

"I agree with you," Draco put in quietly, "but why would they take Scorpius if they were after your families?"

"I don't know the answer to that question, Mister Malfoy, but I have a hunch. I believe that it is a death eater wannabe. I think that he views you, Mister Malfoy, as a traitor, and he just plain wants revenge on the Golden Trio." The Headmistress stated.

"That's most likely," A male voice cut in. The seven adults whirled around, and although the face disappeared before they could get a good look at the face or trace where he had come from, he left a note.

_Astoria Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Ginevra Potter, Harry Potter, Hermione Weasley, and Ronald Weasley:_

_If you look for your children, they will die. Here is a picture of them to prove that they are alive. Remember, I never said that they would not be harmed. _

_Signed most magnificently, _

_XXX_

Hermione flipped over the picture that the cryptic note was written on, and gasped, squeezing her eyes shut to block out the terrible image playing in her mind over and over again.

The others looked at the picture, and Ron thought he might be sick. In the picture was their children. James, Albus, Rose, Scorpius, Lily, and Hugo. The Cruciatus Curse was being performed on Albus. The man whose voice they had just heard was speaking in the background, heard over Albus's screams. "Albus Severus Potter, three names of three traitors. You will pay the most!"

The new style of Wizarding pictures were more like videos. You could hear sounds. The seven adults in the room had never found the need to make the change in their picture taking habits, and now they were surely never going to in the future. The sounds of the screams of Albus would be imprinted in their minds for the rest of their lives.

Hermione was sobbing loudly, which created a niggling annoyance in the back of Draco's mind. And that useless waste of space of a husband of hers was not doing anything about it. "Would you please control that bloody woman of yours, Weasley?" Draco snapped at the redhead.

"At least my wife is showing a bit of emotion, unlike that chunk of ice you call yours!" Ron raged.

Draco's pallor turned bright red, and he whipped out his wand, yelling out the first curse that came to his mind. Luckily, Ron had his out of his pocket already, as he had been anticipating that the blond man would snap eventually, so he cast a shield spell and protected himself from harm. However, the curse bounced off of the charm, rather than dissipating, and hit Hermione straight in the face.

"Hermione!" Ron bellowed. Cuts were forming all over her face, and she was bleeding at a rapid pace. "You bastard!" He shouted at Draco.

Harry could not control his emotions, which was a plague in his life, but perhaps came in handy at that particular moment. He punched Draco in the face, and sent him flying across the room. Astoria was finally snapped out of her reverie, and she gasped at all of the bloodshed. Hermione Weasley was bleeding from numerous wounds on her profile, and her husband was cradling her, cursing Draco. 'What did Draco have to do with that?' She wondered. 'He would never hurt a female, he is so chivalrous. But,' She conceded, 'he has always been jealous of those three. And Hermione Weasley had always been the smartest, always beating him in classes, and everything else, really. But he couldn't have harmed her, not in front of the Headmistress.' She assured herself in her thoughts. She noticed Harry Potter standing in a defensive position, fists clenched, and his wife grabbing his biceps and scolding him. Then she noticed her husband lying on the floor, unconscious, and her heart sunk. He did have something to do with the injuries of the Weasley woman. "Damn him," Astoria mumbled to herself. She scuttled over to him, skirting around the other couples and crouched over him. Slapping him across the face, to see if he would respond, she called his name out.

"Draco! Draco, are you alright! Draco, can you hear me?" Astoria yelled at him.

"I will go to St. Mungo's and get a few healers," McGonagall affirmed, and shuffled into the fireplace.

Astoria noticed that Draco's face was turning an ashen gray, and she knew that was not a good sign. If only she had paid more attention in Muggle Studies! Although, when her parents found out that she had signed up for that course, they had been furious. One of the only times they had been enraged enough to use the Unforgivable Cruciatus Curse on her. She realized that her thoughts had drifted away, and she snapped herself back into the present. That was not the time to bemoan about her childhood.

Hermione, although in severe pain, and extremely lightheaded from loss of blood, had noticed the change in Draco's pallor, and knew exactly what was going on. He was dying. She tried to escape the grip of Ron, who was supporting her, but did not succeed. She looked up and reached her hand out to stroke her beloved's face. She truly did love him, but he could be quite obdurate at times.

"Ronald, Draco is dying. I know how to help him," She whispered in a soft, soothing tone. If Hermione's words had given Astoria, who had overheard them, hope, then Ronald's next assertion surely killed it.

"Damn it, Hermione! You can hardly sit up on your own! You will not help the bastard who nearly killed you!" Ron exploded.

Hermione winced as his voice reached her ears. Nevertheless, she was outraged. "Damn it, Ronald! I may be as angry as your are about his childish actions, but I have lost both of my children to someone with a vendetta against us, and I am not about to see a man die because of provocation from you!" She cut Ron off when he tried to deny this. "You know full well what you did! And no, before you argue with me, I am not defending him in any way, shape or form! He was in the wrong, too, but I will not let someone die because of petty bickering!"

"Please, I beg of you! Every moment that goes by is a moment that he can not afford to lose. The MediWizards cannot bring someone back to life if they are already dead!" Astoria pleaded with the couple, begging for her husband's life.

"If you will help me to him, I will do the rest," Hermione agreed.

Much to the onlookers surprises, Astoria grabbed Hermione by the upper arms and pulled her up with firm, steady hands, and assisted her over to Draco. Hermione sat on her knees, staying upright with the support of Astoria. She nodded to let the other woman to let her know that she was strong enough to sit up for a moment. After dropping onto one of her hands, and using the other to check the blond man's nonexistent pulse, she immediately set in with CPR. She did not have enough strength to do the compressions, in reality, but she was determined to bring this man back to life, when he was not completely dead yet. Hermione urged her body to go on.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight," Hermione was counting out loud, under her breath. When she did thirty compression, she moved to the man's face, and plugged his nose while breathing into his mouth. Before she knew what was going on, she was grabbed away from Draco by two sets of hands. It was Ron and Astoria that had dragged her away. Hermione had lost so much blood, she could not find the energy to explain. The bleeding had not staunched, and she fainted within seconds. Anyone in the room could see that she was dying.

Harry, who knew what Hermione was doing, told Ron and Astoria. "Relax, you two. She was doing CPR."

"What?!" Ron and Astoria exclaimed simultaneously.

"Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation," Harry nearly shouted. "It means he's not breathing, and his heart has stopped. It means he is dead." He rushed over to the dying man, and started what Hermione had been unable to finish.

Astoria gasped, and crumpled to the ground. Her husband was dead.

Counting in his head, Harry told Astoria, "I might be able to get his heart and breathing started. I will try, but the time it has taken for my boneheaded best friend to sort out his problems with his wife is time that might have been crucial to his survival." Harry lowered his mouth to Draco's and breathed life back into him. He repeated this three times. Thirty compressions, two breaths, thirty compressions, two breaths, thirty compressions, two breaths. On the second breath of his third attempt, Draco coughed and opened his eyes.

"I never, ever want to wake up to you putting your mouth so close to mine again, Potter." Although the comment was snide, Harry clapped him on the shoulder.

"Not only was his mouth close to yours, it was on yours," Hermione had awaken, and was goading the two.

Harry was embarrassed, but he only said, "Hermione's mouth was on yours once, but she was dragged away because he husband and your wife didn't know that she was saving your life-" He started.

"You were _snogging_ me to _save_ me?!" Draco exclaimed in disbelief to Hermione, who rolled her eyes at his immaturity.

"If you would let me finish, all she was doing was breathing into your mouth. And I had to take over, to breath for you and to get your heart started." Harry finished, quite annoyed.

Just then, Professor McGonagall flooed back in with a few MediWizards, and as the Healers examined the scene, the apparent Head of the Healers started barking out order. Draco made to get up, but he found that the pain was unbearable.

"Damn, Potter! You broke at least half of my ribs!" He shouted.

A Healer examined him, and stared at the famous man, Harry Potter, in disbelief. "_You_ did this?" He questioned.

"I was doing CPR!" Harry exclaimed, not knowing whether or not the Healer would understand.

Apparently, he did. "Ahh, the Muggle way of reviving a dead person. That's one thing they have on us. We can't bring people back from the dead. Yes, we try to resuscitate them, but the Muggle way of doing it works so much better!" The Healer said.

With Hermione and Draco in tow, the Healers went back to St. Mungo's. When their respective spouses tried to follow them, plus Harry and Ginny, the Headmistress stopped them.

"I'm afraid that St. Mungo's received a letter from the man who dubbed himself 'XXX'." She stated gravely as she handed the letter to Harry to read. He opened it, and read out loud:

_Dear Harry, Ginny, Ronald, and Astoria:_

_I'm so terribly sorry about Draco and Hermione. I can assume we are on first name basis, correct? Well, no matter. I have news for you. _

_The five little children_

_All locked away_

_Can't get out_

_Unless I kill them all away_

_Unless a man and woman _

_From different backgrounds_

_Can work together_

_To save the day*_

_Signed propositionally, _

_XXX_

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" Ronald swore, clearly confused.

Harry was confused. Why would this XXX man want a man and a woman to work together? A man and woman from very different backgrounds, at that?

"Damn!" He swore, and rushed into the fireplace to floo to Hogwarts.

"What?" Ron was confused.

Ginny shrugged, and said, "He must have thought of something important." With that, she followed Harry to St. Mungo's.

Ron and Astoria looked at each other, then looked at Professor McGonagall. She just sat down in her chair, threw up her hands, and said, "You might as well go after them." She looked extremely weary.

Astoria went first, then Ron stepped into the fireplace. Before he threw the floo powder, he turned to his old professor. "Thank you for you help, Professor."

"You're welcome, Mister Weasley. Godspeed."

Ron was gone the next instant.

*~!~*

At St. Mungo's, Harry sprinted to the information desk.

"Hermione Weasley and Draco Malfoy, please!" He panted. The woman at the desk just stared. She was clearly awestruck to be seeing the Great Harry Potter, even though she looked as though she had only just been born when Voldemort was killed by his own rebounding killing curse.

"Please, Ma'am! I need the room numbers of Hermione Weasley and Draco Malfoy!" He begged.

She snapped out of her reverie, and looked at her database of names and room numbers.

"I am sorry, Mister Potter, but a man checked them out only minutes ago. They were healed quite swiftly, and they were released to their father. I didn't know that Hermione Weasley, nee Granger, was Draco Malfoy's sister." She said in disbelief.

"Hermione is muggleborn, and Draco Malfoy's father died last year." Harry stated coolly.

"Then how in the world was their father able to pick them up?" The blonde woman asked.

Harry did not want to worry the girl, or let the Ministry know that there was a Death Eater on the loose. Or a wannabe death eater, anyway.

"You know what, I was mistaken, I think. I'm sure it was that uncle of theirs. He's such a big tease. I'll see you later. I have to call Uncle Michael and talk to Draco and Hermione. Thank you for your help." Harry said, and walked away.

"Harry! Harry!" Ginny called as she ran up to Harry. He turned around, and saw Astoria and Ron jogging up to meet them.

"You guys, we have a problem. Get back to the Floo and go to where we just were," Harry told them cryptically. However, they seemed to understand.

A moment later, they were all back in the Headmistress's office, and McGonagall was grilling Harry.

"What do you mean, their _father_ picked them up?" She shrieked.

"That's what the girl said!" He exclaimed.

"Damn it!" She swore, which surprised everyone except for Astoria, who didn't really know the professor very well. She looked around at the shocked faces, and said, "I am of age, you three, I am allowed to use adult language." Ginny, Harry, and Ron neutralized their expressions, and then Harry spoke again.

"I told the girl at the desk that I was mistaken, and that they have a common relative, an uncle. I know that she might spread it around, which would confuse the entire Wizarding World, but if I had let her keep thinking that there was something wrong, then she would be obliged to contact the Aurors and report the kidnapping of two very prominent figures in society. Who knows what that sick bastard would do to them if the word got out about them being missing." Harry was practically pleading for them to understand.

"Harry, we are Aurors. I know what you were thinking, but if she contacted the authorities, we could shut everything down." Ron reasoned with him. He didn't understand how Harry could let that girl get off by thinking that Hermione was related to that scumbag, Malfoy. And she would probably report it to the Daily Prophet.

"Ron, I understand where you are coming from, but honestly, would you rather that word get out that Hermione is Draco's cousin, and all that story harms is her Muggleborn image, or do you think it's better for the Ministry to find out about their kidnapping, which could result in _both_ of them getting killed, along with our children?" Ginny snapped at him.

"I don't want her associated with that bag of dragon droppings!" Ron roared.

"Excuse me, but I don't want my husband known as the cousin of a Mudblood either, but there's not much I can do about it, so shut you trap and get the hell over it, Weasley!" Astoria sneered in anger.

"Alright, alright, you four. Knock it off, or I will put you _all_ in detention!" McGonagall yelled over their fighting. Then, she realized they were no longer her students. However, it shut them all up, so she stuck to her guns. "Now, let us think this through thoroughly. Is there any way that we could write back to the man who calls himself XXX?"

"Mate, I'm sorry. You were right." Ron apologized to Harry. He realized that that was not the time to be in a fight with his best friend. "I sure wish Hermione was here. She'd know what to do." Ron's head dropped, and Harry clapped his on the shoulder.

"Very touching, you two. Now, let's get my husband back." Astoria cut in. "XXX has sent us these letters via floo, so let's trace the floo back to him, and call him back." She finished smartly.

"Mrs. Malfoy, we've already done that. He cannot be tracked via floo." McGonagall shut Astoria's thought process down. She didn't appreciate Draco's wife snapping at her favorite former pupils, and the man who saved the world, Wizarding and Muggle alike.

"Well, then, I have run out of ideas. I have no clue how to get my husband back, or the Weasley woman back, or find the man responsible for ruining my life! All I want to do is go home and take a bath to soothe my nerves!" Astoria raved.

"Funnily enough, Malfoy, you didn't even mention your son." Ginny said hotly. "And Hermione is not just 'the Weasley woman.' She isn't less than you, so stop acting like it, before I hex you!"

"People, please! Just knock it off. All of you!" McGonagall mediated. She noticed that the room had been divided. Astoria was on one side, and Harry, Ginny, and Ron were on the other.

"Damn it! I just want my wife back!" Ron swore.

Just then, the fireplace lit up in a flash of green light. Everyone jumped up, wands at the ready. When Ron saw what had come through, he fainted, while the others swore loudly.

There was another picture, this time of Hermione and Draco, making love to one another passionately. This time there was no sound, but the ecstasy on their faces needed no words.

Harry was revolted. He felt as though he was going to be sick. 'How could Hermione do this to us?' He thought.

Astoria felt betrayed. It was common knowledge that she and Draco didn't really love one another. They had loved each other when they first married, but they just fell out of love somewhere along the line. Even so, they were still married, and when Astoria saw her husband and the one she called a Mudblood making love in a way she and Draco had never made love before, not even when they were still in love, was like a stab in her heart.

Ginny felt as though she was going to scream. Instead, she checked on her brother, who was still out cold. Ronald looked as though he had cracked his head on the edge of the desk, and it was bleeding profusely. Ginny started casting every healing spell she knew that was relevant to head injuries and bleeding. When she was finished, Ron was sitting up, looking angry and sad and confused, all at the same time.

Professor McGonagall was the only one to keep her head on straight. She looked at the picture and noticed the background. She stayed silent, however, to let the others calm down, and let Mrs. Potter finish checking on Mister Weasley. McGonagall flipped over the picture and read the words the kidnapper had written.

_I nabbed the ones you loved so dearly_

_Now you read me loud and clearly_

_There is no going to the authorities now_

_You have a motive to make them disappear_

_So let's all prophesize a song together_

_It will make our days light as a feather_

_Gone to the mist and never coming back_

_Back in time and back in black_

_The dust that carries them through the wind_

_As though they were transported to the time_

_When songs were sung badly and they couldn't rhyme_

_What happens if they don't come back_

_Too bad, for you it's Azkaban_

_XXX_

Professor McGonagall quieted the others, and re-read the letter, this time out loud.

"But what does it all mean?" Harry and Ron asked simultaneously.

"Well," McGonagall began, "the first line is clear. He kidnapped our loved ones. With the second line, I believe he is saying that now we know how serious he is. The third and fourth lines are saying that we can't go to the authorities without showing them this evidence, and that would give Ron and Astoria, especially, a motive to make Mrs. Weasley and Mister Malfoy disappear, because they were cheating on them. I believe the 'prophesizing a song together' is a cryptic way of saying that the previous note we got from XXX is actually a prophecy. I don't know what the sixth line means. I believe it was just a filler to make everything sound crisp. The next few lines are saying, I believe, that Mrs. Weasley and Mister Malfoy have gone back in time, to the time when 'songs were sung badly and they couldn't rhyme,' so possibly back to their childhood. The last two lines are warning us that if we don't find the two, then someone somewhere along the line, will notice that they are missing. That means that someone would have taken them, or made them disappear. For now, with this picture, it means that the only people with a motive are Mister Weasley and Mrs. Malfoy. And the Potters would probably be found guilty for being accessories to murder." McGonagall took a breath before continuing, "And I know where the picture was taken. It is in Hogwarts, in the Room of Requirement. I'm assuming the man who calls himself 'XXX' was a student here at Hogwarts, and took the picture of them, and grew up to set it all of this in motion. If we figure out who XXX is, then we will surely find out where Mister Malfoy and Mrs. Weasley are, and why XXX is doing all of this. And we can recover the children as well."

**A/N: How was the first chapter? This was originally going to be my first THREE chapters, but I know that I love to read longer chapters rather than a bunch of short ones. I don't know how long this story is going to get, but I know that it will be a very complicated, tangled web of a story. For the characters, anyway, not for my readers! By the way, in case it wasn't clear, everything that happened in the books actually happened, including the epilogue. This story starts off on the day the children leave to go to school, and when the adults and the children too young to go to Hogwarts are at home. Keep reading and give me some feedback (aka review)!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"It's times like these that I wish Hermione was here and you got kidnapped, mate. No offense intended, naturally," Ron shrugged.

"Naturally." Harry stated.

"I just want my husband back," Astoria cradled her head, trying to look upset.

"You signed a prenuptial agreement, didn't you?" Harry asked.

"What's a prenuptial agreement?" Ron questioned.

"It's a Muggle agreement made between a couple before marriage relating to the arrangement of financial matters and division of property in the event of their divorce." Harry told Ron, sounding very Hermione- like.

"Whoa, mate! Where did you get that air of Hermione?"

"I don't know, Ron, I just had some inspiration. I read about it once." Harry answered plainly.

"Why do you numskulls want to know?" Astoria snapped.

"Because that would explain why you really want Malfoy back! We all know that you don't really love your son, otherwise you would have said that you want him to come back too, when you so plainly and callously stated that just you wanted your husband back. So obviously you don't really love your husband that much, either. And as far as I know, the Greengrass family fell out of grace after Voldemort was killed by Harry, so if you lose Malfoy before the time period of probably, knowing him, nine more years, then you lose the money and the status that you gained by seducing him by the false love you used to marry him!" Ron yelled at her.

Harry was astounded. Knowing Malfoy, he would want his wife to sign a prenuptial agreement of twenty years, so if she really didn't love him, then she would leave him or get nothing, or he would respect her enough to give her the half of the estate she had earned by sticking around so long in a loveless marriage. It was hard work to be around someone you didn't love, so the respect would be well earned, as it was quite hard to earn the respect of Draco Malfoy if you weren't a blue blood like him. On the flip side, by that time, he would know if she loved him or not. To his credit, Malfoy wasn't dense, so he probably already knew Astoria's ploy. The thing that amazed him was that someone like Ron, with the abecedarians range of emotion, could figure something with that depth.

"What are you talking about? Of course I love my husband." Astoria snapped.

"Or do you love the image of your husband? The way the power of being a Malfoy makes you feel?" Ron asked her.

"You don't know anything about me. And that comment is really rich, coming from you." Astoria retorted.

"What are you talking about, you slimy shark?" Ron roared. McGonagall made an educated decision to stay out of that particular row, and when Harry made a move to intervene, she gave him a Look that stopped him in his path right away.

"You don't really love Hermione, do you? You were never as important to Harry or Hermione! You were just the worthless sidekick that hung around to make them feel better! And you know it, too! You can't just face the facts, can you? You wanted to keep the image of the Golden Trio going, so you married the bitch!" Astoria screamed back at him. Harry couldn't let the woman just sit and hit Ron's greatest insecurity right on the head, so he opened his mouth to deny all of this, but his best mate beat him to it.

"Oh, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, and you know it too! Ever since the War, I've never once doubted my love for Hermione, and my friendship with Harry, and all you are doing is trying to do is get me riled up to ignore all of the insecurities about your own loveless marriage!" Ron yelled. Harry and Minerva were never prouder of the man.

Astoria was speechless, and stalked into the fireplace to floo away. When she was gone, Harry walked over to Ron and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Good job, mate. I know how you used to feel, way back when we were seventeen. I'm glad that you are confident about our friendship, now." Harry beamed.

"Mister Weasley, you have matured a lot since the last time you were in this office, as a child. I, too, have seen you insecurities about where you fit in with Mister Potter and Mrs. Weasley. It gives me pride to see you so courageously put yourself in your rightful position." Professor McGonagall praised him.

Ron blushed, and felt more strength than he had since Hermione was taken by the sociopath self-dubbed XXX. "Thanks, you guys. I really needed that," he breathed deeply, "but now we have to focus on finding Hermione and Malfoy." He looked at them, and something jumped out to him. "I think that they were taken back to when we were First Years. Naturally, we hadn't discovered the Room of Requirement yet, as that happened in our Fifth Year, but in our Second Year, Malfoy had first named Hermione the Mudblood, and in our Third Year, Hermione knocked the lights our of Malfoy. Both of those years created a bitter rivalry between the two. During our fourth year, Malfoy and Hermione didn't cross paths that often, and when they did, it wasn't as big of a deal to Hermione, because she was so concerned with Harry." He looked at Harry quickly, and amended his statement. "We both were, of course. And, obviously, we knew of the Room of Requirement as Fifth and Sixth Years, and Neville occupied it during what was supposed to be our Seventh Year. So that leaves our First Year." Ron worked it out.

"But what about our Second and Third Years? Just because they fought a lot doesn't mean that he wouldn't send them back to those years." Harry reasoned.

"Well, It thought about that. I don't think he sent them to those years because he has a reason for sending them back in time. His mission is clearly to ruin us. Malfoy was just a piece that was convenient, so he took Scorpius. What better way to ruin our friendship then to send them back in time and force them to be together, so they eventually fall for each other? And if he were to send them back to our second or third years, then all they would observe would be animosity, forcing them apart. But what better way to bring two people together than to send them to a time of innocence. A time when we were all so uncorrupted by war? A time when they hadn't truly started hating one another yet? If they fell for each other, my marriage to Hermione would be over, and that would force us all apart because you wouldn't know which side to take, and we would both want to you to take our sides, because we are both quite pigheaded, and Ginny would obviously take my side, because we are blood, which would mean that, to make it fair, you would _have _take Hermione's side. That would also cause quite a rift between you and Ginny. With all four of us alienated from each other, it would make us vulnerable, and that would make it easier for whomever XXX is to take us out of the picture, one by one. What he's not thinking through is that Hermione would never betray me, and even if we were alienated from one another, we'd come to each other's defence. No matter what." Ron finished strongly.

"Ron, you are a genius! Of course!" Harry exclaimed.

"Ronald, that is brilliant, bro! I can't believe you came up with that!" Ginny crowed. She was immensely proud of her older brother, who until that moment had not shown his full potential as a thinker.

"Mister Weasley, you have become quite brilliant over the years. That was an astounding show of problem solving!" Professor McGonagall praised him. "Now we have a probably explanation about _why _he sent the pair of them back in time, and to _which_ time period he sent them. I guess that we didn't have to know who he was after all. The only problem is that we don't have a motive to take to the authorities. Naturally, we could go it without them, which has seemed to work the best in the past."

"Wait a moment! I've just thought of something!" Ron said with a spark of inspiration. "We discredited the 'light as a feather' line, but I think that it means something after all! Remember, Harry, the day that Draco stole Neville's Remembral, and you became Seeker because Professor McGonagall saw you save it from smashing against her window?"

"Yes, of course," Harry nodded.

"Well, there were many students there, Slytherins and Gryffindors alike, and you both flew 'light as a feather'. Perhaps I was wrong about Malfoy just being convenient. Perhaps it was someone jealous of your abilities. Someone who has been an underdog all of this time? Someone who was jealous of how your lives have turned out?" Ron spoke, verbally thinking out the problem.

"Someone like Crabbe?" Harry asked.

"Yes! Goyle died in that fire in 1997, and he was Crabbe's best friend. And Crabbe just got released from Azkaban, while Malfoy lucked out because of your testimony, Harry. On top of that, he got married and had a child, while no one will ever want Crabbe as a husband, being a former Death Eater- wannabe and all. He has never been taken seriously, he was sent to Azkaban when someone like Draco, who was responsible for the death of the greatest Wizard to ever live, Professor Dumbledore, and he got to have the good life, with wealth, a beautiful wife, and a child. Three strikes, and Draco is out. _XXX_." Ron finished.

"Ron, you're a genius!" Harry chortled.

"Mister Weasley, I believe your wife has rubbed off on you!" Professor McGonagall praised him. "But that is only three strikes against Mister Malfoy. I believe he also has three strikes against you three, as well. For one, you guys have always been glorified as the Golden Trio, and secondly, you killed his master, who he looked up to and admired, no matter how fearful he was, and you guys had the happiest ending of everyone! Three strikes, and the three of you are out. _XXX._" She ended.

"So what you two are saying is that this XXX person has a grudge against happy endings?" A woman's voice asked. The three that were deep in discussion jumped.

"Oh my goodness, child, you scared me!" Professor McGonagall proclaimed, holding her palm to her heart. "When did you get back? Surely we would have heard the floo!"

"Well, since you lot were doing nothing about the predicament, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I contacted the Ministry of Magic. And before I left, I made copies of all the evidence." She smirked as though she had done something magnificent.

"Don't you realize that you just gave yourself time in Azkaban? You have the motive and the means to make Draco disappear, and you just put Mister Weasley up for a stint in Azkaban as well!" The professor cried out.

"Well, Headmistress, you are absolutely correct about that one," the Minister himself replied. "But Mrs. Malfoy won't be going to Azkaban. Why would she turn herself in, just like that? We," he started, motioning to the Aurors standing beside him, "don't think that Astoria Malfoy would be dumb enough to do so. However, Mister Potter and Mister Weasley do have a motive, and the means, for making Mister Malfoy disappear. They found out about the affair, and, taking advantage of their access to all parts of the Ministry, including the Department of Mysteries, sent Mister Malfoy back in time using the newly made Time Turner dust. Mrs. Weasley was probably there, and grabbed hold of Mister Malfoy, not wanting to let him go, and got sprinkled with the dust herself, following her lover back in time." He finished haughtily.

"Why, Minister, that is pure speculation!" Headmistress McGonagall roared. Harry and Ron had never seen her so emotional before, excepting the moment of agony she experienced and displayed when she thought Voldemort had killed Harry nineteen years ago.

"Speculation that had a strong foundation, Minerva. A strong enough foundation, to be precise, to put them both in Azkaban until proven innocent." He said firmly.

"The law is that you are innocent until proven guilty!" She argued.

"That is the Muggle adage, my dear." He shrugged, then motioned for his guards to magically bind Harry and Ron.

"Sorry, mate," Dean Thomas whispered in Harry's ear. "I'll do my best to get you out as soon as possible."

"I won't let you down, mate. I know you love your wife," Seamus Finnigan whispered in Ron's ear. He, however, was dazed in disbelief, and not exactly capable of processing coherent thoughts.

Ginny, who had been silent through all of that time, finally gathered herself enough to speak. "Muggle adage it may be, Minister, but it is also the foundation of the Wizarding government! You cannot seriously think that you will get away with something like this, no matter what your title! Harry and Ron are heroes in every Wizard, Witch, and Squib's eyes, and also in the eyes of the Muggles who are knowledgeable about the Wizarding World! They would never let this go!" She roared, her hair looking almost as though it was in flames, with the light reflecting off of it.

"Oh yes, Mrs. Potter. I had nearly forgotten about you. Of course, you are an accomplice to all of this. Hermione was nearly your sister, and most certainly one of your best friends. But Ronald is your brother, by blood. So if she were to betray him, she would also be betraying you. What is even worse for the three of you is that she betrayed you with your age-old childhood nemesis. You have every reason to be in on this," He smirked.

"This has gone far enough!" Minerva drew her wand.

"No!" Harry, Ginny and Ron yelled together, stopping her when it was halfway from her robes. It was Harry who reasoned with her. "Professor, you have to stay here. If you draw a wand against the Minister, you will surely be incarcerated as well. And we need you here. The pupils need you here." He begged.

Minerva conceded, snarling to the Minister, "I just want you to know how badly I want to curse you!"

The Minister clucked at her. "Oh, naughty, naughty you! Don't you know that threats to the Minister of Magic just turn around and bite you right in the arse? Watch your back, Minerva."

Dean, Seamus, and the new Auror who had Ginny, Patrick Masterson, dragged the incarcerated trio with them out of the office, with the laughing Minister following behind them.

Minerva McGonagall turned stiffly to a chuckling Astoria in a rage. Astoria hightailed it out of the woman's office after the seven people, knowing that being in the same room with the Headmistress's wrath would surely be her demise.

Minerva sank into her chair when she was all alone, and cradles her head in her hands. It was devastating that the woman who was more likely to be responsible for the kidnappings was going free and the two men who could save their wives and children were sitting to rot in Azkaban.

"Minerva, you can't just sit idly and wait for a miracle," A voice intoned behind her. The professor jumped, and turned to face the deceased Headmaster.

"Albus, I don't know what to do. All I have to go on is the brilliant idea from Mister Weasley, and I want to believe him, I really do, but could Vincent Crabbe really be the mastermind behind this plan? Honestly, I never thought the boy had it in him."

"Yes, you are correct. Vincent Crabbe would never be able to mastermind this by himself. Alas, that is all we have to go on at the present. Ronald did have quite the stroke of brilliance, did he not? Perhaps you should put more stock in his opinion than you have as of late. He does have a genius mind, although that refutes his test scores. However, with his lovely wife always there to do the thinking, he never had to strain himself. With her gone, he really had to step it up a notch. That is my hunch as to why he had that mysterious moment of wisdom. But, it is, after all, just a hunch."

"Albus, your hunches are usually correct, and you know it. I do miss you. Your brain and magic would be quite useful in this situation."

"Alas, I am only a portrait. I have my memories, and I have my suggestions, but I am not the man I once was. Right now, however, I wish to portray something to you. I believe that you have to focus on getting back in time, or sending someone back in time, to retrieve Hermione and Mister Malfoy. Or you have to break Harry and Ronald out of jail. The latter, I believe, will be considerably harder. So, you have to get a contact within the ministry. Preferably an old friend with connections. Do you have a person such as that?" Albus asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do, Albus," Minerva grinned at him. "Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan are old friends. And Luna Thomas, nee Lovegood, works in the Department of Mysteries. You might not have known, but Mister Thomas and the former Miss Lovegood married shortly after the Second War.""Fascinating, really. I would have never guessed. I assumed Mister Longbottom and Miss Lovegood would have married one another. They would have been a nice match, the pair of them. I never considered Mister Thomas as a prospect, as they never were around each other during my lifetime. Perhaps they fell in love during the war. Did you know that-"

"As great as all of your opinions about the romances of our pupils, I believe we have a bigger problem. And yes, the pair of them did meet during the war. I believe it all started when Mister Thomas helped his present wife out of the portrait hole and into the Room of Requirement."

"Oh, how lovely."

"Back to the matter at hand, Albus!""Yes, yes, of course. Now, I do not believe you should inform Mister Thomas or Mister Finnigan about your plan. Miss Lovegood, oh, excuse me, Mrs. Thomas, would be perfect. You need to get a hold of her, and do what you have to do to get that time turner dust!"

Minerva, who had been facing away from the former Headmaster, turned to him, and sighed when she realized that the former Headmaster, and the greatest Wizard to have ever lived, had dozed off, and was whistling a tune with his snores.

"Oh, Albus, sometimes!" She shook her head exasperatedly.

Just then, the fire flared up, and a voice resounded through the Headmistress's office. "Well, well, well, what have we here? Where is your hero when you need him? Perhaps this will help you ascertain the right way to go in this situation, Headmistress!"

_To The Lonely Professor With No One Beside Her:_

_There once was a lonely professor_

_She is now the Headmistress of all_

_Because the Headmaster was murdered_

_By the foulest of them all_

_No one could have predicted that triumph_

_Unless you count the ferret_

_Who planned it all out but could not kill him_

_But still won the honorable merit_

_Now all will pay the price today_

_Yes, all who triumphed will pay_

_You frugal minded ascetics_

_All of whom didn't see the light_

_Well now the time has come_

_When you will see that the Dark Lord was right_

_And who to show them but me_

_Too bad you don't know my name_

_Old woman you are all alone_

_And if you try to change that_

_Everyone I have with me will pay the price_

_So leave it alone and just play nice_

_Love, _

_XXX_

Minerva nearly ran out of her office, took the stairs two at a time, and unwontedly sprinted past the gargoyle. She ran past a few pupils, who gaped after their Headmistress.

"Where is she going in such a hurry?" The Head Girl asked.

"Why wouldn't she just use the floo, I wonder?" The Head Boy questioned.

"She probably forgot. I mean, she was in such a hurry. Something big must be going on!" A Prefect responded.

The student didn't know how right he was. Something big was going on; bigger than anyone could have imagined, even the Headmistress. He was right on another count, too: she was in such a hurry that she forgot she was a Witch until she was already outside of the gates, when it struck her that she should have used the floo. She Apparated right inside the Ministry when she gathered herself enough to do so.

When she got to the information desk, huffing and puffing, she managed to gasp out, "I need to speak to Luna Lovegood!"

"Wand, please." The woman said.

McGonagall shoved her wand towards the monotonous woman, an waited for her visitor's badge. When she finally received her wand back, and got her badge, she read:

**Minerva McGonagall**

**Department of Mysteries**

"Thank you. Finally." She mumbled under her breath. She ran into a lift and pressed the button for the lowest basement floor: The Department of Mysteries. She ran off of the lift, and into a door that led to a confusing room with eleven doors.

"Where am I?" She breathed. Someone tapped her shoulder. "Oh!" She jumped into the air.

"Professor, what are you doing here?" A familiar, breathy voice asked.

"Oh, Mrs. Thomas! Just the person I needed to see!"

"What do you need, Professor?"

"I suppose you've heard about the arrests of Mister Weasley and Mister Potter?"

"Oh yes, I have. It's really quite horrible. I don't believe they would do such a thing, which leads me to believe that they were framed. It's quite possible, and would be conducive to the Ministry if a big shot girl, such as Astoria Malfoy, offered them a large sum of money to get Harry and Ronald out of the way of a possible kidnapping investigation of Draco and Hermione. And I'd assume that the children were involved."

Minerva just stared. How does that girl do it? "Well, Mrs. Thomas, I'd have to say you pick things up quite quickly. How did you know about everything?"

"Well, because the man who did it all came through here just yesterday, of course**."**

**A/N: Alrighty, that's the end of Chapter 2! Remember that writers love reviews, whether they're constructive criticism or just praise, the comments are always welcome!**


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